Ahh…February. The month of LOVE and KINDNESS and HISTORY. There is SO many reasons to love this month, but it can also be a struggle. We’ve gotten to the point of the year where students are starting to get antsy. Winter break is long gone and Spring Break can’t get here fast enough. Maybe you’ve had a few snow days, or you’re hunkered down due to indoor recess. Your classroom management strategies from August (or October…or January) aren’t cutting it anymore. Can’t a teacher get a BREAK?!!?
I’m here for you teacher friend!! I understand your pain (you can click here for my own February madness story during my first year of teaching), and I’m here to help refresh you and your classroom to finish the year strong, with a tight-knit classroom community and a well-oiled classroom management machine! I have some FRESH classroom management ideas for your elementary classroom that will take your class from ugh to YAY!! The best part is…you can start using them TOMORROW!
Just so you know, all of the Amazon links in this post are affiliate links. This means I make a small amount from any purchases made through my links, which helps me keep teaching abroad as a missionary in Tanzania!
Just so you know, all of the Amazon links in this post are affiliate links. This means I make a small amount from any purchases made through my links, which helps me keep teaching abroad as a missionary in Tanzania!
Idea #1: Assess what’s working and what’s not.
You know your students by now – what makes them work hard, what makes them give up, what lights up their faces, and what makes them groan. Use this to your advantage! Take out a piece of paper or open up a document on your computer (yes, right now!) and write down everything that encourages and motivates your students. Write down what systems are currently working WELL in your classroom and what problems you’re having.
Now, let’s figure out how to make your life easier by motivating your students in ways that actually work. Do they respond well to encouragement? Or do they enjoy competition? Have you tried an individual behavior management system? Or does a whole group, teamwork idea work better?
Here is something that work best for ALL students: giving them ownership…whatever the reward is, let THEM decide. Take a vote, make a list, choose a random number, etc. This puts their behavior and their actions back on them. If you decide that you’re having a popcorn party if they all bring homework back on time, but they don’t like popcorn, the homework won’t be back on time! But if you vote on three suggestions that are all okay with you, and they get to choose, you bet your students will be motivated to do anything and everything to get that reward!
Idea #2: B I N G O
I’ve taught Kinder, First, and Fourth, and all of my students LOVED games and competitions. Bingo is a super fun and easy way to capture their attention and get them working on a goal. I made my own Behavior Bingo last year for my fourth graders, and it looked like this:
But, I have to say, I’ve found a better way for you. Ashley, the mastermind behind Teach Create Motivate, has made these super fun themed bingo games! She has big ones for your whole class or small ones for individuals or groups. I love this because you can use it time after time or year after year by laminating every thing and using velcro!! You can get her free emoji bingo to get you started!
Idea #3: Back to Basics Bootcamp
Sometimes we all need to go back to the basics. To reset, refresh our memory, and renew our focus. You can do this with your students by becoming a Skill Sergeant with some camo, aviators, and a whistle, putting camo plastic tablecloths on your desks, and planning a day of reviewing classroom routines & expectations along with bootcamp exercises! If you want some extra special additions, check out these inflatable tires, camo netting, camo pencils for your students, and dog tags!
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| Michelle @ Pocketful of Primary is the cutest Skill Sergeant! Click the pic to check out her bootcamp ideas! |
You can also add new procedures or change some of the things that are not working on this day. This would be a great time to implement a new classroom management strategy, like bingo above or some of the other ideas below!
I did a week of kindergarten bootcamp after winter break, and it really helped my sweet kinders get back in the swing of things! Here are some of my favorite resources to use with K-2 when reviewing expectations:
Both of these resources help your students practice their phonemic segmentation, inventive spelling, and writing, as well as the specific expectations in your classroom. You can use them as a reminder all year long, or at the beginning of the year.
Idea #4: Share the Responsibility
Do you have classroom jobs? Do they actually work FOR you or are they giving you more work to do? I love giving students responsibility in our classroom…because it is OURS. But, I struggled with keeping up with all the jobs, so I created Team Jobs. They have been awesome for my sanity and my classroom community!
I love that each poster has the expectations and jobs for each team on them, so we can reference them throughout the year, and I don’t have to explain them 5,002,743 times! They are editable too! I also can switch up the teams of students so that everyone gets to work with different classmates. I have found that with team jobs, I don’t have to remind students to do their jobs, because the teammates do!
Each of my students have a number, and I print and laminate these numbers on Astrobrights paper on the posters that I printed and laminated. I also have velcro dots on the back of the numbers and on the posters to easily switch jobs every month.
For the younger students, my friend Danielle has an awesome blog post on giving your students responsibility in keeping your classroom tidy, and some classroom job ideas too!
Another idea that I’ve used in Kindergarten is having a helper (or two) of the week. That way everyone gets lots of time to help, and you can easily remember one or two students to give tasks to (passing out papers, messenger, line leader, etc.). You can see how I display my helpers here!
Idea #5: Take it One Step at a Time
Sometimes changing your classroom management might feel overwhelming because you see so many things that need a refresh. My suggestion is to choose one thing to focus on that you feel is the most important to your classroom’s harmony and your students’ success. Work on that for a couple of weeks and then go to the next small piece. Soon enough, the domino effect will take place and your classroom will be better than ever! Here are some great ideas to get you started:
I have personally used Quiet Critters with my Kinders, and though I don’t recommend using them all of the time, on those certain occasions when you do need the whole class quiet, they are FABULOUS! It feels like a classroom fairy has come and sprinkled quiet dust all over your students!!
They are easy to make – sparkly pom poms, googly eyes, and foam cut into little platforms that look like feet. Here’s a free label for your jar too!
I’d love to hear from YOU! What are your favorite Classroom Management ideas? What has worked well for your students? I’d love for you to pin the image below so that you can refer back to these classroom management strategies for elementary students!!
Such good advice to reflect mid-year on what is working as far as classroom management goes. It's definitely an opportunity to re-set, especially if things are not going as well as you want. I really like the "Back to Basics Bootcamp" idea. Humor can go a long way when dealing with classroom management. Thanks for this post!
I try to use the classroom environment as a behavior management tool. Making sure I am intentional with my design helps set the stage from day one!
Those are great ideas and I love how cute all the posters and worksheets are! I try to give my students ownership as well and it seems to help a lot with their engagement.
Love these ideas! I think regularly refreshing management routines is so important!